<div dir="ltr"><div><div><div><div>U.S. Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald on C-SPAN Washington Journal program 9/07/2016 indicating that one of the major issues in lack of proper administration of the agency was that the financial management software still being used was written in COBOL "which I wrote with in 1971 while going to West Point". Robert McDonald was brought in from Proctor & Gamble to lead VA on 7/30/2014. His statement on the use of antiquated management software by Veterans
Affairs Dept. like COBOL is at 15min 40sec to 16 min. 20 seconds of the interview below: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.c-span.org/video/?414224-2/washington-journal-veterans-affairs-secretary-robert-mcdonald">https://www.c-span.org/video/?<wbr>414224-2/washington-journal-<wbr>veterans-affairs-secretary-<wbr>robert-mcdonald</a>
I have also seen statements he made in testimony to Congress about the antiquated use of COBOL software at the VA contributing to the lack of accountability before.Does anyone in this group know the extent of the US federal government's use of software still written in COBOL?<br><br></div></div></div>Also an interesting story to pursue is that VA Secretary Robert McDonald brought in LaVerne Council as an Assistant Secretary for Information and Technology and Chief Information Officer for the VA in July 2015. She had been a corporate vice president and Chief Information Officer for Johnson & Johnson and is a black woman with one of the most senior positions in Information Technology in the country. Brief info on her is at:
<span style="font-size:11pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"calibri","sans-serif""><a target="_blank" href="http://www.va.gov/opa/bios/bio_council.asp">http://www.va.gov/opa/bios/<wbr>bio_council.asp</a></span></div>It seems like this would be an interesting story on diversity in the IT field to pursue. I have copied some of her bio below as a possible incentive for someone looking for a topic in the diversity and technology field to pursue.<br clear="all"><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div dir="ltr"><div>Clarence Townsend; Eugene Oregon<br>Email: <a target="_blank" href="mailto:clarence1234@gmail.com">clarence1234@gmail.com</a><br><br><h2 class="gmail-page-title">LaVerne H. Council</h2>
<h3 class="gmail-sub-title">Assistant Secretary for Information and Technology and Chief Information Officer, Office of Information and Technology</h3>
<span style="float:left;margin-right:10px"><img alt="LaVerne H. Council Official Biography Image" class="gmail-img10" src="http://www.va.gov/opa/bios/photos/council.jpg" title="LaVerne H. Council" align="left" border="0" height="161" width="121"></span>
<p>Ms. LaVerne H. Council joined the Department of Veterans Affairs in
July 2015 as the Assistant Secretary for Information and Technology
(OI&T) and Chief Information Officer. In this role, Ms. Council
oversees the day-to-day activities of VA’s $4 billion IT budget and over
8,000 IT employees to ensure that VA has the IT tools and services
needed to support our Nation’s Veterans.</p>
<p>Prior to joining VA, Ms. Council served as CEO of Council Advisory
Services, LLC and Chair of the National Board of Trustees for the March
of Dimes. In December 2011, she retired from Johnson & Johnson after
serving as Corporate Vice President and Chief Information Officer for
Johnson & Johnson’s global Information Technology group. In this
capacity, she was responsible for managing information technology and
related systems for the $61.6B Johnson & Johnson worldwide
enterprise. She was a Member of the Corporate Global Operating
Committee and her organization included more than 250 operating
companies with over 4,000 information technology employees and 7,000
contractors.</p>
<p>Ms. Council is a proven visionary senior executive with global
experience in the development and execution of cutting-edge information
technology and supply chain strategies in the healthcare/life sciences,
consumer products and telecommunications/hi-tech industries. In 2011,
Ms. Council received the Alumni Business Achievement Award from Ernst
& Young. Business Trends Quarterly named her as one of the top four
CIOs in America in 2010. The New Jersey Technology Council inducted her
into their CIO Hall of Fame in 2009, and the Global CIO Executive Summit
named her a Top 10 Leader and Change Agent in 2009 and a Top 10 Leader
and Innovator in 2008.</p>
<h3>CAREER CHRONOLOGY:</h3>
<p>2015 – Present Assistant Secretary, Information and Technology, Department of Veterans Affairs</p>
<p>2012 – 2015 CEO, Council Advisory Services, LLC</p>
<p>2011 – Present Chairperson of the National Board of Trustees, March of Dimes Foundation</p>
<p>2006 – 2011 Corporate Vice President and Chief Information Officer, Johnson & Johnson</p>
<p>2000 – 2006 Global Vice President for Information Technology, Global
Business Solutions and Development Services, Dell, Inc.</p>
<p>Ms. Council was also a partner with Ernst and Young and led the
company’s Global Supply Chain Strategy practice. She also held
leadership positions focusing on infrastructure engineering, networking,
security and enterprise application interfaces.</p>
<h3>EDUCATION:</h3>
<p>2010 Doctorate of Business Administration, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA</p>
<p>1986 Master of Business Administration, Operations Management from
Illinois State University, St. Normal, IL 1983 Bachelor of Science in
Business, Western Illinois University, Macomb,the <br></p><br></div></div></div></div>
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